No fewer than three Nigerian tennis stars were sent packing from the second leg of the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship as against their laudable feat in the first leg.
Reports reaching Naija Tennis Special have it that the final leg of the 2015 edition of the annual ITF-rated tournament was quite disastrous for the home stars as their foreign counterparts were more ruthless.
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| Nigeria’s Christain Paul could not re-enact the superb run of form which he had in the first leg of the competition. Photo: Emmanuel Osodi. |
In the men’s singles, Nigeria’s number one star, Thomas Otu, was beaten by number two seed, Harris Llyod of South Africa in a 0-6, 2-6 rout while his compatriot, Christopher Edward also stumbled to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to third seed, Takanyi Garanganga of Zimbabwe.
It was the same fate for Christian Paul, who was Nigeria’s best performer in the first leg where he reached the quarterfinal, as he was outclassed 6-2, 6-1 by New Zealand’s Ben McLachlan.
In the women’s singles, Patience Onebamhoin was comprehensively beaten 6-0, 6-0 by number eight seed Prarthana Thombare of India while another Nigerian, Osariemen Airhunmwunde was outplayed with embarrassing ease by Ushua Suhail of Pakistan 6-0, 6-1.
Nigerian-born Russian player, Melissa Ifidzhen defeated Sabath Ibrahim 6-1, 6-0 just as Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Ester Masuri of Israel.]
China’s Xiaoxi Zhao and Margarita Lazareva, the sixth seed from Russia also progressed with 6-1, 6-0 and 6-4, 6-4 wins respectively over Slovakia’s Nina Kolar and Eden D’Oliveira from South Africa.
Daughter of Zimbabwe Tennis Federation president, Valeria Bhunu, a runner up in the women’s doubles final in the first leg, bagged a 6-2, 6-0 win over Riley Alexandia of USA to also stay on course.
Other first round matches are billed to be completed on Tuesday with no fewer than five Nigerian players scheduled for action.